


Ten Years Gone

by Aishuu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family, Gen, Growing Up, HP: Epilogue Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 05:51:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4048618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chance meeting on a train, ten years later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ten Years Gone

Dudley Dursley took the train into London every weekday, commuting to his job at a factory that made plastics. It wasn't a glamorous profession, but it paid the bills, and Dudley was good with his hands. Unlike his father, he had no great corporate ambitions; his job was not his life, not the thing that defined his existence. 

To him, nothing was more important than his twin daughters and his wife. Tomorrow was the first of the month, his payday, and he planned to take his family out for a dinner at a steakhouse that had recently opened. And maybe the zoo; it was always pleasant this time of year.

He shuffled his newspaper slightly as he turned the page, maneuvering proficiently enough to avoid jostling the other passengers. The ride was a long one, lasting more than an hour each way. Like most experienced commuters, he'd learned how to amuse himself, and ignore the other passengers. 

He liked to keep up with the news, trying to read between the lines and see if there was any hint of what was going on in that other world. Both his parents had retreated firmly into the realm of denial, trying to forget they even had a nephew.

But Dudley remembered. 

It had been ten years since he'd seen his cousin, and he'd often find himself wondering what had happened to Harry. A couple of times he'd questioned if Harry was even alive, but quickly shushed the specter of doubt. There had been no sign of dark magic on the world, which meant Harry and his friends must have won. That was the way this kind of story was supposed to go; after facing trials untold, the hero would triumph.

And he knew now that Harry really was the stuff heroic legends were made of.

The train pulled to another stop, and Dudley looked up to check their location. Three more stops until he reached his destination. He was just about to return his attention to his paper – Manchester had won again, but the spread wasn't large enough to win him the office pool – when he noticed the man who'd just taken the seat opposite him. His jaw dropped as he realized that Harry Potter himself was sitting across the way, nose stuck in a paper of his own.

He realized he was staring as the train chugged back into motion. There'd been a time or two in the past when he'd mistaken another stranger for his cousin on catching sight of messy black hair and glasses, but this time he was sure he was right. The scar was unmistakable.

He'd imagined their conversation so many times, with him apologizing in every imaginary scenario. Asking what had happened to Harry, offering to make amends, demanding to be forgiven. He'd thought and thought and thought about it, but now that the chance was here, he just sat staring.

He was still a stupid idiot, he thought. The train was starting to slow, and there was no telling how long Harry would remain on board. It was best he say something, no matter how inane. He'd been wanting to patch things up between them for over a decade, and would regret it if he didn't make the effort.

"Harry?" he said, and the man looked up in shock, which faded to surprised recognition. Before his cousin could say anything, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Happy birthday."

Harry blinked once, twice, and Dudley winced inside. Today _was_ Harry's birthday, a fact that was always in the back of his mind on July 31, and Dudley had probably just inadvertently summoned all kinds of childhood traumas from his cousin's memories. 

But Harry Potter had always been the better man of the two.

"Thanks, Big D," he replied, and then he smiled.


End file.
